Syracuse-Hofstra-Le Moyne scrimmage recap

The Hofstra Pride outscored both Syracuse and Le Moyne College Saturday in a three-way exhibition featuring a trio of New York state teams expected to be strong contenders in the coming NCAA season.

With the scoreboard wiped clean after each quarter of each game, the three coaching staffs experimented heavily with personnel, giving many inexperienced players, including many freshmen, a chance to compete for time, and providing coaches with game film of many different player combinations.

Boasting the Clearly Canadian brand of offense, Hofstra got the best of both of the Central New York teams in the first quarter, taking a 3-2 lead over Le Moyne in the first game and 2-0 margin over the Orange in the next contest. The Pride extended its lead over the Dolphins to 5-3 at the half, eventually finishing with an 8-5 lead. Against Syracuse, the 2-0 lead would become a 3-3 tie at the half. Hofstra outscored Syracuse 2-1 in the second half for the 6-5 edge.

In the CNY showdown, the last game of the day, Syracuse outscored the Dolphins 3-1 in the first, taking a 5-2 halftime lead and eventual 10-5 finish. Stats from the scrimmages are available at suathletics.com.

Hofstra

Much of the conversation about the 2011 rendition of the Pride will focus on senior Canadian attackmen Jay Card and Jamie Lincoln, as it should. The two snipers, who’ve known each other most of their lives, form a terrifyingly potent tandem. They play the pick-and-roll game with teammates, they can feed into spaces others can’t, and they just shoot the lights out of the ball. Lincoln snapped in three on the Dolphins. And the two were outstanding against Syracuse, both finishing with 2 goals and an assist. (They also connected for Card’s behind the back goal against the Orange).

But the deep and diverse Pride midfield was also important in the scrimmages. Helping to stretch defenses out and open up the middle, Hofstra’s offense seemed to keep the opposition on its toes, and the midfield was a bigger part of that than many might have expected.

Early in both contests, the first line of juniors Brad Loizeaux and Kevin Ford and Lafayette senior transfer Steve Serling was aggressive and sharp, with Loizeaux and Serling both taking turns at initiating from up top and keeping Card and Lincoln in the corner of their eye. The all-sophomore second line of Mike Burke (who also runs attack), Aaron Jones and Aaron Sorichetti was just as dangerous. Jones torched the net twice against Le Moyne, and Burke, whose put up big OLA Junior A numbers, scored once and had a feed to Lincoln for a tight finish. Additionally, junior Zach Pall, freshman Rich Rambo, and UNC transfer Ian Braddish were as tough to deal with from up top as the first six middies.

“I thought the midfielders dodged hard and they made the right reads at times,” Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney said after the game. “I didn’t see a ton of forcing the ball inside. We did it a couple of times. I’d rather just create some flow and send it down the side and see if we can get something on the backside.”

“One of the things we’ve tried to focus on is to get deeper on our roster,” he continued. “Guys really worked hard over the summer. We’ve got a little something to work with. We’ll see what we can do.”

That depth was evident on the defensive end of the field, too, where sophomore defender Cody Solaja did well in shading JoJo Marasco, who was extremely shifty behind the cage, and he also kept Dolphin QB Jack Venditti at bay. (Venditti’s only tally against Hofstra came on a face-off win and fastbreak dish from draw man Corey Bulken.) Senior Adam Mojica, who started the game at LSM, also threw some accurate and disruptive checks, including a couple of beauties against the Dolphins. Senior Mike Scudin and redshirt-sophomore Mike Mullen also helped limit chances for two feared attack squads, and the defense got solid play from senior SSDM Steve DeNapoli. Sophomore Corey Caputo and freshman A.J. Leary eventually got into the game and also stood out to their coach.

“Overall, the shots we did give up were mostly out on the perimeter,” Tierney said, adding that, when he was needed, junior goaltender Andrew Gvozden was there to make some tough saves, including big stops on Le Moyne’s Jack Harmatuk and Syracuse’s Stephen Keogh.

“Andrew was named the starter before the scrimmage, and he’s stepped up for us,” Tierney said. “He did make some decent saves today. And Rob Bellairs played really well too, along with some of second team guys.”

The sophomore made 14 saves in total, including several big blasts from way out, one time taking a shot off the facemask from the Dolphin’s Vinnie Alexander.

The success his team had for parts of each game, Tierney said, is fueled by the chemistry the players have.

“The guys really enjoy playing with each other, and that is a big part of the battle because they don’t want to let each other down. That’s going to be a big point of emphasis.”

Still, Tierney said there’s a long way to go in the season.

“I’m not a half full guy,” Tierney said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot. I feel like we slip out of what we are supposed to do too many times throughout the game, and when you are playing an opponent like that (Syracuse and Le Moyne), they forced us out of that at times. … We’ve got a big week ahead of us, and we have to tighten some things up.”

Le Moyne

The Dolphins have a lot of positives to take away from a scrimmage with two preseason top ten D1 teams. Never was the Dolphins offense a question, as the team returns the DII Player of the Year in senior middie Matt Chadderdon and the preseason Attackman of the Year in senior Jack Harmatuk. For a team that lost three starting defenseman from last year’s team to graduation, there were much bigger concerns coming into the scrimmages.

But Le Moyne held its own in keeping two highly regarded D1 offenses to 10 goals or less.

Tough as nails, willing to fling any piece of his body in front of a shot, and destined for a great career at Le Moyne, sophomore goaltender Jeff White was spectacular in cage, despite his team being outscored in both games. He turned away 5 shots in three quarters against Hofstra and then stopped 11 in three quarters against Syracuse. The fearless Iroquois netminder, who missed last season with an injury, steps explodes toward every shot. He made an amazing save on a one-timer attempt by Lincoln on a feed from Card. Against Syracuse, he stuffed Tommy Palasek and Tim Desko, among others.

“I think everybody knows Jeff White’s a heck of a goalie,” Le Moyne head coach Dan Sheehan said after the game. “It was unfortunate for him to get hurt last year in April.”

The starting defense of junior Chris Aubertine, sophomore Josh Klepfer, and redshirt-freshman Alex Cameron-Carter played above the group’s collective experience level, with Aubertine (a Navy transfer) and Cameron-Carter standing out with some excellent individual defensive play. Cameron-Carter had some trouble keeping with Jamie Lincoln in the early goings, but he played better position defense throughout the afternoon.

“I thought that the guys that we rotated through out there played very well together,” Sheehan said. “I don’t recall one time where a guy just got beat straight up. But I still think our overall team defense needs to get better. I don’t think we did a good job defending the midfield.”

The Dolphins offense had its share of challenges in facing the Orange and Pride defenses.

Chadderdon scored on a fastbreak off a face-off win against Syracuse, but couldn’t find the net against Hofstra.

Harmatuk, the Syracuse transfer who some believe could have become a starter there, was held scoreless by his former team, but he did start the scoring off in the day against the Pride with an isolation down the right alley and picture-perfect bounce shot to the far post. Later, he put it in the lower right corner from higher up on the opposite side of the field.

On the hand, Vinnie Alexander, a fiery, wildman of a competitor who is all over the field, scored in each game, as did senior attackman Jack Venditti.

With this year’s team full of fast, skilled and hungry players, some veteran, some young, Sheehan said he’s gradually allowing them more freedom on the field.

“Offensively, I haven’t given our offense the green light to be as creative as they are probably capable of being, but we’ll get there. The nice thing is, we can throw some seniors out there, throw some freshman out there and everywhere in between. Today gave us a great opportunity and the motivation to continue to get better.”

Syracuse

With so many questions to be answered about this team, let’s get down to brass tacks.

Third defensive spot: The Syracuse defense, which looked out of sorts in the opening minutes against Hofstra, welcomed senior captain Thomas Guadagnolo to the starting lineup Saturday. Whether he holds the spot will depend on what coaches saw in the smorgasbord in other players that got onto the field. (Note: He did receive some kind praise from fellow senior and captain John Galloway after the game.) Redshirt-sophomore David Hamlin was also impressive when he got runs, one time stripping Jamie Lincoln with a hard, well-placed check. Sophomore Joe Fazio also rotated in, along with a large number of young players later in each game.

The second midfield line: Syracuse’s second midfield line, in its first publicly-viewable edition, was senior Jeff Gilbert and redshirt-sophomores Pete Coleman and Steve Ianzito. But this, and even the first line, would be rotated with frequency throughout the two scrimmages. Coleman was quiet (although he was wearing a calf muscle wrap while playing, as if he might be nursing a minor injury of some sort), and Gilbert, who usually is fundamentally sound, had two turnovers early on. Ianzito created only one legitimate opportunity for himself, and he was stuffed by Gvozden. That being the case, it’s safe to say this question really hasn’t been answered yet either. Other players who stood out and might have moved themselves up in the queue include redshirt-sophomore Ryan Barber, who always looks more than capable, and freshmen Scott Loy and Jake Bratek, who both scored their first goals. Sophomore Christian Pagli, who played both sides of the ball, also scored on a dodge down the alley. The coaches tried any number of combinations of youth and veteran experience. (The answer to this question might come during or after the Maryland-Canisius scrimmage next week.)

Tommy Palasek: While on the subject of second line middies, it’s likely appropriate to mention that it took the Syracuse staff little time to put Hopkins junior transfer Tommy Palasek on the second line, too. They put him at attack a short time later, and he played both positions throughout the day, with a significant amount of time as the coaches are still trying to learn everything they can about him. With exceptional quickness, a slick stick, and great vision, Palasek will become a Syracuse fan favorite. He registered only one assist on the day, but he was creating almost every time he touched the ball. He nearly brought the Dome roof down when he tucked himself inside a defender, dove in front of the crease, and backhanded a shot that hit the crossbar just above Jeff White’s shoulder. Several times, he made opportunities for himself and others that simply didn’t materialize. Most notable, the Syracuse offense at one point featured Amidon, Miller, and Jeremy Thompson at midfield, and JoJo Marasco, Palasek and Stephen Keogh at attack.

Face-offs: Jeremy Thompson went 1 of 4 against Hofstra and 1 of 2 against Le Moyne. Senior Josh Knight was 5 of 6 on the day. A bright spot for the Orange, freshman Ricky Buhr was 6 of 7 on the day and his classmate Chris Daddio was 6 of 12. Strong and fast, both of the young players look ready to hit the field immediately.

And on to a couple things that are less revealing but likely just as important to Orange fans.

The new #22: It was a tough out for the new #22, as JoJo Marasco didn’t register any points in either contest. (However, he did feed Jovan Miller for the goal that was disallowed at the end of the first quarter against Hofstra.) And to his credit, Marasco was being moved around a lot, and he did create plenty of opportunities on offense, but those didn't come to fruition.

“We were surprised he didn’t dodge for scores a little bit more, but he looked today like he was looking to feed more than he was to score and forced a couple,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said after the game. “But it will come. It’s good to have him back and obviously he’s a guy who makes things happen. And I think his time will come.”

The first midfield line: Those who are not believers/followers of Jovi Nation just might be by the end of the season. Arguably one of the most athletic specimens to wear a Syracuse jersey in recent memory, Miller showed improved moves from up top and behind when inverting, on more than one occasion shaking his man right out of his boots and unleashing a huge blast. While he came into the program raw, Miller showed in the scrimmage that he’s as primed as any of the Syracuse seniors for a big 2011 season. A good sign for Miller: after the game he said the net felt much larger than 6-by-6. Amidon was very consistent with a goal and an assist in both games. He was clearly looking to dodge more from up top. Thompson did not produce points, but he, too, looked much more aggressive on offense than last year, even appearing to bring a little more of a box style to his dodging after a very busy offseason.

Defense: While the defense did let up some early ones against Hofstra, Lade, Megill and White were dependable. Megill in particular was playing quite physical on Hofstra’s Stephen Bentz, holding him to zero points and once brutishly knocking him to the ground and taking the ball away. Lade was responsible for a couple of caused-turnovers himself, keeping his stick in the lane. White had a couple of nice plays in transition, came off the wing to assist with face-off cleanup, and also helped create a couple turnovers. It should be pointed out that Syracuse played junior Gairet Myers, 6-2, 194 pounds, at LSM for significant periods of time, perhaps in grooming him for more runs next season. Additionally, junior Joe Moore played both LSM and SSDM. Freshman Taylor Morgan also saw time at LSM.

As for Galloway, he became more comfortable as the day went on, extremely tough to beat down low with a very fast spring his step and seemingly. He stopped 4 shots in the first half against Hofstra, including a nice save in close on Jay Card. Against Le Moyne, he made 5 saves before redshirt-freshman Matt Lerman (1 save) and freshman Ben Levy (2 saves) stretched their legs in the cage.

“I think we came in saw the ball well,” Galloway said. “Besides a couple of let-ups in the first half of the Hofstra, we’re pretty happy with what happened on the defensive side. We know we’ll have to improve our communication, that’s why we schedule a couple scrimmages. We’ll see it on the film, and go from there. But we’re definitely a lot farther behind than we thought we were.”

And here’s what Desko thought about the afternoon:

“I thought we came out slow against Hofstra. They showed they were pretty warmed up from their first game, and we made some mistakes early. We got a little bit better as the game went on, but a little bit disappointed offensively with the number of points we put up on the board. But the defense came along as the game went on, we got a lot of people in and we had some freshman do well in the last period.”